Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, also known as Will Rogers Shrine, is a commemorative tower and chapel on

Cheyenne Mountain Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations cen ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. It is named after Will Rogers, the American humorist, who died in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935 during construction of the shrine. It is also a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

for the remains of

Spencer Penrose Spencer Penrose (November 2, 1865 - December 7, 1939) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He made his fortune from mining, ore processing, and real estate speculation in Colorado and other parts of the West. He founded the Utah Copper ...

– who built many of the city's prominent properties, including the neighboring

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a zoological park located southwest of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Cheyenne Mountain in the United States. At an elevation of 6,714 feet (2,046 m) above sea level, it is the highest zoo in America. The z ...

and

The Broadmoor The Broadmoor (stylized as THE BRODMOOR) is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors h ...

resort – and his wife Julie Penrose. Completed by Penrose in 1937, the shrine is a , five story

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

that overlooks The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, and

Garden of the Gods Garden of the Gods (Arapaho: ''Ho3o’uu Niitko’usi’i'') is a public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. Name The area now known as Garden of the Gods was f ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1994 for its artistic and architectural qualities.

Geography

The Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun is located at in elevation. It is about in elevation above Colorado Springs, and is also above the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on the side of Cheyenne Mountain. Views of the Rampart Range, Colorado Springs, and the plains can be seen from the site on a promontory on the mountain, which is accessed via the

Cheyenne Mountain Highway The Cheyenne Mountain Highway, also called Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Road, is a road in Colorado Springs, Colorado that begins at the intersection of Penrose Boulevard, Old Stage Road, and West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard. It is a paved road to the ...

. The road to the shrine is restricted at the toll gate to individuals who have purchased Cheyenne Mountain Zoo tickets.

Description

Overview

The five-story commemorative monument and an adjoining one-story building with the chapel was designed by local architect, Charles E. Thomas, who was hired by Julie and

, the philanthropist and developer who built

resort and

. The monument is made of Romanesque Revival architecture with buttresses, an ornately decorated iron and brass door, and narrow leaded windows. It is tall. The shrine is partly named for the views of the rising and setting sun. Will Rogers, who died in 1935 in an airplane crash, is memorialized in images of his life displayed throughout the interior of the monument and in the name of the shrine. The shrine is also a memorial to the lives of Julie and Spencer Penrose, whose tombs are in the monuments lower level. The Pikes Peak Region's history is depicted in a mural by Randall Davey, an artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun site is entered through a stone gateway. The grounds are encircled by a stone wall made from the same single block of pink granite quarried from Cheyenne Mountain used to make the tower. Within the stone walls, there are

Jo Davidson Jo Davidson (March 30, 1883 – January 2, 1952) was an American sculptor. Although he specialized in realistic, intense portrait busts, Davidson did not require his subjects to formally pose for him; rather, he observed and spoke with them. H ...

's statue of Will Rogers, Chinese sculptures, and landscaping with plants native to the region.

Avard Fairbanks Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks. Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commis ...

made a bronze bust of Spencer Penrose. The building is constructed of granite, steel, cement, iron and brass. Its roof was built of ceramic tile. There were no wood or nails in its construction. The interior has terrazzo floors, marble, and ironwork. Stairs lead to the upper floors. It was completed in 1937 and dedicated on September 6, 1937. The total construction cost was about $250,000 ().

Monument

The sections of the monument are a one-story building with the chapel, the five-story tower, and a staircase connecting the two. Randall Davey painted murals on the first floor of the monument and the first two levels of the stairway depicting the area's historical people and events. The murals, restored in 1994 by Eric Bransby, illustrate scenes of Native Americans;

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson ...

's travels; Cripple Creek Mining;

William Jackson Palmer William Jackson Palmer (September 18, 1836 – March 13, 1909) was an American civil engineer, veteran of the Civil War, industrialist, and philanthropist. During the American Civil War, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general and receive ...

, founder of Colorado Springs; and Spencer Penrose. The next three floors contain a photographic history of Will Rogers from his early childhood days in Oklahoma through his time on stage, screen and radio. The last mural is of Will and

Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop on ...

taken just prior to the fatal crash. A set of

Westminster chimes The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

are played on a vibraharp every quarter-hour or every hour. The sounds of the chimes can be heard away, due to what was a state-of-the-art amplification system when it was built. Songs like ''Home on the Range'' and classical music has been broadcast from the tower over the years. At night, the shrine is illuminated by floodlights and the walkway is lighted. Visible below, Cheyenne Lake at The Broadmoor reflects the nearby lights.

Chapel

The chapel is below the first level. It contains European works of art from the 15th and 16th centuries, including a 16th-century Baroque painting of the Madonna. Furniture from the 16th century includes choir stalls, a Classical Baroque altar, and carved Monk benches. The chapel's

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

is a German woodcarving. The remains of Spencer and Julie Penrose are interred in the chapel along with two friends, Spencer's social secretary, Horace Devereaux, and Harry Leonard. Eastern works of art include a standing bronze statue of

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

wearing rosary beads and three

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

statues.

Notes

References

External links

Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun
official site {{National Register of Historic Places Towers completed in 1937 Buildings and structures in Colorado Springs, Colorado Cheyenne Mountain Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Observation towers on the National Register of Historic Places Towers in Colorado Tourist attractions in Colorado Springs, Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Springs, Colorado Mausoleums on the National Register of Historic Places Cultural depictions of Will Rogers 1937 establishments in Colorado